I watched this video of his but I couldn't quite understand what he was saying (or what his conclusion was) on wether Shudras can enter Hindu temples, thus what is his conclusion on this matter?
1 Answers
This Shankaracharya has unusual views on caste
he says that British Raj had divine elements by adhering to Manusmriti !!
BG 18.45: By fulfilling their duties, born of their innate qualities, human beings can attain perfection. Now hear from Me how one can become perfect by discharging one’s prescribed duties.
This Shankarachrya says Sanatana Dharma restricts what can be done based on caste etc. but does not deprive anybody of the fruits of what DOES get done.
He says as a Sanyasi he cannot touch fire and so cannot cook - but others make the food for him. He is prohibited from cooking, but NOT from eating. In other words, ALL Hindus are subject to restrictions that do not deprive them of the fruit of their allowed actions.
So denying temple entry to Sudras according to him is not wrong - If they worship the deity from outside the temple, then they would get the benefit.
- 1
- 4
- 22
- 79
-
1Typically it is the asat-sudras who had been denied temple entry. According to Brahmavaivartapurāṇa, varnasaṅkaras are divided into 2 groups - satsudra & asat-sudra. Sat-sudras consists of various communities like kayastha, vaidya, abhira (popularly known as Yadavas), weavers, dealers of sweetmeat, milkmen, musicians etc. However in the Hindi belt, for certain reasons these sat-sudra communities refuse to accept their sudra status & instead claim the positions of kshatriyas & vaishyas (which is scripturally invalid), making the asat-sudras the only people who continue to remain as sudras there – অনু Aug 15 '23 at 04:12
-
1This creates the widespread misconception prevalent among certain people from North India that all sudras are by default untouchables, which is not the case throughoutthe rest of India, as asat-sudras constitute the illegitimate 5th caste. Since the Sankaracharya also hails from North India, he also has this same misconception, however his views don't resonate in his designated area of Eastern India, where sat-sudras are traditionally regarded as sudras. – অনু Aug 15 '23 at 04:24
-
Besides, I have seen the current Puri Shankaracharya has displayed some elements of hypocrisy. In one of his sermons he compared inter-caste marriage with bestiality (I.e he is indirectly dehumanizing low-caste people) but at the same time he unhesitatingly accepts donations from people of lower-castes. Similarly in another video, he was vocally arguing for excommunicating Hindus who travel overseas but he remains silent when politicians regularly travel oversees & shake hands with mlecchas & has no qualms in accepting overseas donations. – অনু Aug 15 '23 at 04:40
-
Don't say that the Puri Shankaracharya is powerless against politicians. When the President Ramnath Kovind came to visit the Jagannath temple in 2018, he lead the priests & servitors of the temple to literally gherao the President in order to prevent his entry since he was a Dalit & they were successful in preventing the President from entering the main shrine. Even his predecessor in 1984 had successfully barred Indira Gandhi from entering the temple on the grounds that she had lost her caste by marrying a mleccha. This goes to show the power the position of Puri Shankaracharya wields. – অনু Aug 15 '23 at 04:50
-
2If you already know what he says, why bother to even ask? Also, as I already proved from scriptures, nobody is restricted from entering into temples. https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/a/45196/19211 – Sethu Srivatsa Koduru Aug 15 '23 at 05:22
-
@SethuSrivatsaKoduru I asked since I don't understand Hindi and could only understand the English subtitles but the video was too messy for me to understand what he was really trying to convey. And I have seen your answer before and I upvoted it since it was a good answer. – Rajam Aug 15 '23 at 06:00
-
See, it's an open-and-shut case. He is a messy man. Smritis themselves say we can reject them if they cause harm to others. And considering the fact that Smritis hate Brahmins who worship and pay reverence in Temples, Puri S must shut up. This is what happens when you club Vedic religion, Vedantic Religion, Puranic religion and tantric religion into one single "Hinduism" – Sethu Srivatsa Koduru Aug 15 '23 at 07:26
-
@ S K "This Shankaracharya has unusual views on caste" does this imply that other Shankaracharyas have different views on the caste system? – Rajam Aug 15 '23 at 08:09
-
@SethuSrivatsaKoduru It is hinduism only, one may see them as the different parampara which are applicable to different families however it is veda which is revered everywhere, yajnas are done based on veda etc – Aditya Dwivedi Aug 15 '23 at 10:06
-
@Rajam while all Shankaracharyas agree at the doctrinal level, it isn't necessary that they must be unison regarding societal matters. There is a video in which the Puri Shankaracharya is seen vociferously opposing ordination of women into sannyasa by the late Dwarka Shankaracharya. Again the Puri Shankaracharya is opposed to Swami Vivekananda (he alleges that the Ramakrishna Mission is being financed by Christian missionaries from abroad for 'weakening' the dominance of orthodox Brahmins like him in religious affairs), those of Sringeri & Kanci are full of praise for the Ramakrishna Mission. – অনু Aug 15 '23 at 10:59
-
@অনু well that's interesting. Where is the source for those of Sringeri and Kanci respecting the Ramakrishna misson? – Rajam Aug 15 '23 at 11:55
-
1@Rajam. Vide https://sringeri.net/2007/04/28/news/monks-of-ramakrishna-math-call-on-jagadguru.htm. If the Sringeri Shankaracharya hadn't been favourably disposed towards Ramakrishna Mission, the website wouldn't have described the Bangalore Ramakrishna Math in positive terms. Here is an extract from a discourse given by the past Kanchi Shankaracharya Chandrashekharendra Saraswati describing the Ramakrishna Mission in positive terms https://www.kamakoti.org/kamakoti/stotra/acharyascall/bookview.php?chapnum=19. – অনু Aug 15 '23 at 13:18
-
1And here is the video link containing Puri Shankaracharya's disparaging remarks against Swami Vivekananda & Ramakrishna Mission. https://youtu.be/wlGg2haKsQg. In another video, (which I am unable to locate now), the Puri Shankaracharya went as far as to denounce the Hindu credentials of the Ramakrishna Mission. – অনু Aug 15 '23 at 13:21